Captain America Epic Collection Society of Serpents

I love the value of these Epic Collections. This cost £15.25 and reprints Captain America (1968) 302-317 & material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) all in colour. So more comics and cheaper than a masterworks. Just it isn't in hardcover...but you do get the extras which are now included in the masterworks collections.

If I was just starting to buy collected material this would be the format I'd go for.

At least with Cap I've not got many of the original comics so this and the previous collection are welcome additions!

X-Men Masterworks and Epic Cap

With this purchase I've completed my (somewhat eclectic) collection of X-Men Masterworks. Just really DD to concentrate on now to have the silver age runs that I want. I would like Doc Strange, vol 4 of Hulk and maybe Warlock and Captain Marvel if the opportunity arises.

The Epic Collection format  is a really nice package. Better than Essentials as it's in colour but still with plenty of pages. This one I've just bought was just shy of 500 pages and collected
CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) 247-266, ANNUAL 5, (CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 9) so is nearly as packed as an Essential volume.

Now of course I've already got most of the material in these collections but for title like Cap or Thor this is an excellent way to get stuff I've not got at an affordable price.

Saying all that, some of comics in this particular one I did have! This volume reprints comics I already had in the "War and Remembrance" trade by Stern and Byrne. Those are brilliant comics and that old trade could make a good gift or an introduction to Cap for my 10 year old.

Triumph & Torment

The main story in this trade collection is a reprinting of the Roger Stern / Mike Mignola graphic novel staring Doom and Strange called "Triumph & Torment".

It's a great story and will be worth re-reading one day.

I also really enjoyed the short reprint from an old Amazing Adventures by Conway and Colan featuring ol' Doom using magic to try to free his mum's soul from hell.

I solid and worthwhile acquisition.

Incredible Hulk 238 - 243

Read some more Hulks over the last few days.

I was going to read a few more but issue 243 is the end of Roger Stern's fine run and was an excellent place to take a break for a short while. I do plan/hope to read to #250 before the end of the year.

Time to read some more Star Wars related stuff to get me in the mood for SW roleplaying in a couple of weeks.

Incredible Hulk 228 - 237

 Been cracking/plodding on with Hulk back issues. All Stern and Buscema efforts and an enjoyable read.

Pity Al Milgrom takes on cover duties as I'm not really impressed with his efforts such as below.

Thank goodness the interior art is alright. (And for the record - I'm generally OK with Milgrom's interior art but his covers generally are poot IMHO.

More Marvel Masterworks and a Classic Graphic Novel

 Incredible Hulk Masterworks vol 3softcover

 Iron Man Masterworks Vol 8

Dr Strange & Dr Doom Triumph and Torment Graphic Novel

All 3 arrived on the same day courtesy of the Book Depository who are often significantly cheaper than Amazon.

This means I've completed my Iron Man run.

Back to reading the Incredible Hulk

I thought it was time to read some back issues and before I got side-tracked by Howard the Duck I was reading the Incredible Hulk.

In my opinion this is a good period with Roger Stern writing and Sal Buscema on art. However, the highlight of these latest issues I've read (Hulk 225-227) was actually the annual by Stern and Byrne. I'd heard this was a significantly above average annual and it was. Nice to see it also neatly fitted into the regular series continuity too.

Good stuff this and I'm going to continue with the Hulk to read at least a years worth (that'll be 1978 if anyones' interested).

Incredible Hulk 222 - 224

In between the Mira Grant novels. I'm still going to read a few comics.

I've finished my 2 years worth of Hulk issues by reading 222 - 224. 222 was a bizzare filler by Jim Starlin but 223 began Roger Stern's excellent run for real. Some nice art by Sal Buscema inked by Joe Rubenstien.

Hulk :219 - 221

I've not quite got to issue 224 and the end of 2 years worth of Hulk issues. I got to the end of issue 221 and it was a good place to pause whilst I read a novel (the first in a trilogy). I might read the last 3 in-between book 1 and book 2.

This particular issue has an extra bit of nostalgia for me as I remember reading the UK reprint in Mighty World of Marvel. That comic got thrown out long ago.

Hulk 213 - 218

Just finished the next six issues of the Incredible Hulk by Len Wein and Sal Buscema.

Still enjoying this much more than previous runs. Len's use of sub-plots and the use of Doc Samson as an ongoing supporting character helps too. Hulk smashing for 22 pages can get a bit repetitive.

However, issue 218 sees the start of Roger Stern's tenure on the book. He may be only scripting Len's plots for the first couple of issues but Stern is one of my all-time favourite writers and his Hulk, although some of his earliest work, is still very good!

Avengers/FF Annual x-over from 1985

I read these two annuals which I bought from Fantasy World back in 1985 because Bronze Age Babies were doing a review of them on their site and I thought it would be nice to chip in with a comment.

Unfortunately, what with the Olympics and all that, I've only just finished both double size-issues so it's a bit late now. :-)

I thought they were a bit harsh at first, but although it's an interesting experiment to merge the end of the story at the end of each annual, the FF annual in particular was a bit of a mess in terms of script but fantastic with Byrne and Sinnott on art.